I wonder why it took so long for me to write this despite finishing the game more than a month ago. After solving the DLC problem and made them appear in the game, I found out that I was 2 Achievements short of completing a full 1240G for this game. Unfortunately there's no way for me to get these final 2 Achievements except by replaying the whole game again...which i'd rather not doing for the time being because of time constrains. Plus I have other game in my to-be-played list (eg: Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata Encore), and Bayonetta is likely to arrive at my home within a few days : D
MagnaCarta II (マグナカルタ 2) is a video game developed by Softmax and published by Banpresto exclusively for Xbox 360. It is a follow-up to the role-playing games Magna Carta: The Phantom of Avalanche released on Windows and Magna Carta: Crimson Stigmata released on the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan on August 6, 2009 and in North America on October 13, 2009. This marks the series' first entry onto a seventh generation console. The game was officially unveiled in the April 2009 edition of Famitsu magazine.
Magna Carta 2 on wikipedia
Magna Carta 2 official website (japanese)
Gameplay: 9/10
In my previous Early Impression, I've described the short bit of the gameplay and as a whole I pretty much enjoy the combat system adapted in Magna Carta 2. The use of real time combat with features like Stamina Gauge/Overdrive/Chain Link/Chain Break/Overheat system made the gameplay shine. What this basically implies is in Magna Carta 2, you have stamina gauge that limits your action and reckless usage will result in overheat state (stunned for a brief period), so you to time your attacks and skill usage properly so that you can Chain Combo with your allies (by switching character), transferring your overdrive gauge and if further chain link succeed, your character will avoid from entering Overheat state. Sounds complicated, but in actual it's quite easy to master once the concept is grasped.
Again, this video demonstrate how the battle system in Magna Carta 2 works:
Another interesting aspect of the combat system is the Kan usage, one which I didn't understand properly in my previous Early Impression post. Well, to made it simpler, Kan is what you'd call Mana/MP in many other rpgs, that's it. The difference is that Kan of certain class of character (the sorcerers/wizardry user like Crocell/Zephie) deplete over time, so they need to generate their own Kan in battle by attacking. Kan can also present on the field, sorta like providing free mana for the matching elemental characters.
The negative aspects of the gameplay that I've seen so far: Sometimes the normal mobs can be quite annoying because they LOVE to inflict status ailment to your characters, from poison, miss attacks, status down... and what made it worse is that sometimes the AI is so dumb that they never leave the status ailment AOE, causing them do nothing but heal themselves over and over again. Another bad aspect is the AI with can be stupid at times, because they didn't know how to walk pass a boulder or field obstruction and stuck there for awhile unless you went far enough, or you switch to the character and move them manually. The Bosses love to interrupt your Chain Link with their skill animation and you'd end up having 2 characters in Overheat state...not good. And finally the "ultimate" skills animation are very lengthy, sometimes took more than 30 seconds to finish. And there's no option to skip the animation either.
The negative aspects of the gameplay that I've seen so far: Sometimes the normal mobs can be quite annoying because they LOVE to inflict status ailment to your characters, from poison, miss attacks, status down... and what made it worse is that sometimes the AI is so dumb that they never leave the status ailment AOE, causing them do nothing but heal themselves over and over again. Another bad aspect is the AI with can be stupid at times, because they didn't know how to walk pass a boulder or field obstruction and stuck there for awhile unless you went far enough, or you switch to the character and move them manually. The Bosses love to interrupt your Chain Link with their skill animation and you'd end up having 2 characters in Overheat state...not good. And finally the "ultimate" skills animation are very lengthy, sometimes took more than 30 seconds to finish. And there's no option to skip the animation either.
Story: 6.5/10
The story and overall plot was nice, but it introduce nothing new. The world fall in conflict after the queen of Lanzheim was murdered by one of her most trustful assistant with the throne seized, and the survived princess Zephie fled and form a resistance group to retake the throne. This is where the main hero, a seemingly ordinary boy Juto who lost memories of his past met the princess and due to certain incidents, end up joining the resistance in their bid to reclaim the throne and revenge in Juto's part. You've seen this kind of "angst spiky haired teenager,saving the world with a few friends which oddly some of them are kids who haven't even reach puberty,falls in love,Had some kind of personality dilemma on the way(pff teenager),save the world and all is good kindda storyline" (credit to chrono_05 for this line ;p) everywhere in today's jrpg. Main hero with spiky hair and personality dilemma: check. A princess who then fall in love with the main character: check. Saving the world with a few friends/ teenagers: check. Killing the final boss means disrupting the world balance: check. Cliche ending: check. Overused theme I'd say. It's like the idea for MC2 are taken bits by bits from other games: Kamonds from Vesperia's Blastia; the repeating cycle of Carta's sacrifice for the sake of the world is like...Grand Summoner and Sin in FFX.
*by the way, Rue ish mine ♥*
Graphic: 8.5/10
Well, not much can I say. You might argue that Star Ocean 4 and The Last Remnant has much better graphic, but MC2 isn't that far behind the two. The field and environment were well-textured, so does the special effects in battle. The use of cinematic cutscene rather than actual CGI for most of the cutscenes (similar to Enchant Arm) was nice too. The character design might not be everyone's favorite, but I'm pretty fine with the barbie-like character arts (it's designed by Hyung-Tae Kim after all).
Other features: 8/10
The game offers a wide variety of sidequests, from merely talking to others to relaying letters, saving soldiers in battle, planting bombs, collecting ingredients and killing monsters. Completing all of them gives an achievements too, which is a bonus. Each character has 2 sets of weapon style to be upgraded, and mastering all skills in each style gives certain bonus (and Achievements, again :D). The concept of Kamond Board to strengthen weapons is also nice albeit limited (sorta like customization in FFX but is reversible). And finally, the Achievements. MC2 is one of the game where a full 1000G is easily attainable in one playthrough, providing you didn't messed up with sidequests and weapon style upgrades. There are 240 additional achievements from the DLC contents, but you need to spend 400MS points to download them, so the choice is yours. I got my 1000G in my first playthrough, unfortunately missed Crocell and Argo's early weapon so I'm achievement short to complete the game. Oh, and the DLC extra scenes were quite hilarious, worth watching for a good laugh :D
TL; DR - Magna Carta 2 offers great real time combat system, much improved than the predecessor MC: Tears of Blood, although sometimes the AI can be quite stupid. Most of the bosses battle were quite easy too. The graphic were great although not the best, special effects in battle was spectacular. The character design and voice acting were nice (depend on your taste), but the story is a bit cliche with lots of predictable things. Lots of sidequests offered, and it's an easy 1000G if you're a completionist.
final rating: 8/10
Other features: 8/10
The game offers a wide variety of sidequests, from merely talking to others to relaying letters, saving soldiers in battle, planting bombs, collecting ingredients and killing monsters. Completing all of them gives an achievements too, which is a bonus. Each character has 2 sets of weapon style to be upgraded, and mastering all skills in each style gives certain bonus (and Achievements, again :D). The concept of Kamond Board to strengthen weapons is also nice albeit limited (sorta like customization in FFX but is reversible). And finally, the Achievements. MC2 is one of the game where a full 1000G is easily attainable in one playthrough, providing you didn't messed up with sidequests and weapon style upgrades. There are 240 additional achievements from the DLC contents, but you need to spend 400MS points to download them, so the choice is yours. I got my 1000G in my first playthrough, unfortunately missed Crocell and Argo's early weapon so I'm achievement short to complete the game. Oh, and the DLC extra scenes were quite hilarious, worth watching for a good laugh :D
TL; DR - Magna Carta 2 offers great real time combat system, much improved than the predecessor MC: Tears of Blood, although sometimes the AI can be quite stupid. Most of the bosses battle were quite easy too. The graphic were great although not the best, special effects in battle was spectacular. The character design and voice acting were nice (depend on your taste), but the story is a bit cliche with lots of predictable things. Lots of sidequests offered, and it's an easy 1000G if you're a completionist.
final rating: 8/10
related links:
Magna Carta 2 - the prologue
Magna Carta 2 DLC problem
Magna Carta 2 - DLC Problem Solved!
Tales of Grace F
Warrior Orochi 3
FFXIII-2
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